At a time when chief minister Mamata Banerjee (who is also the state health minister) is repeatedly asking the medical staff to serve the patients with a “human face”, an on-duty sweeper in a drunken state allegedly removed an oxygen mask from a new-born, leading to her death at the Calcutta Medical College and Hospital (CMCH) on Saturday late night. The shocking incident triggered massive protests by the relatives of the deceased. To add to the horror of the infant’s family members, the police also allegedly refused to accept their complaint.
Shobha Devi, a resident of Ibrahimpur in Bihar, had come to her parents house with her 23-day-old daughter at Marcus Square in central Kolkata for the latter’s treatment.
The infant was suffering from respiratory disorders coupled with gastric problems, said Kundan Das, the brother of the 24-year-old housewife. “Four days ago, my elder sister was admitted at the paediatric ward of the hospital with her baby,” he added.
Shobha’s mother Suchitra Devi who was at the ward recalled that sweeper Manmohan Raut came in drunken state on Saturday evening. “Strong stench of alcohol was coming from his mouth. He came and removed the oxygen mask from my grand-daughter’s face. When I asked the reason, he stopped the supply of oxygen from a cylinder and scolded me. He also flaunted of being skilled in the job and asked me to go to sleep. My pleas to a nurse also fell onto deaf ears,” alleged Ms Suchitra Devi. At around 9.30 pm, the new-born died.
Ms Suchitra claimed, “At night when we went to the Bowbazar police station to lodge a complaint, the police officers refused us. They said that if we register a complaint, the body of the infant would be cut for post-mortem and the inquiry will take a long time to complete.”